New Cycling Hub planned at Calke Abbey

One of South Derbyshire's most popular tourist attractions is Calke Abbey.  Set in an estate of woodland and parkland around Ticknall, the estate, house and gardens are on of the biggest local attractions managed by the National Trust.  To find out more about Calke Abbey visit the Calke Abbey page on the National Trust website.

The National Trust, along with English Heritage, are supportive of Sustrans and the National Cycle Network.  On both of their websites, directions to the attractions feature a link to the local cycle network via the Sustrans website.

Further to this, the National Trust are looking to expand the existing tramway paths through the Calke estate to create an outdoor hub to attract families wanting to enjoy outdoor activities.  The National Trust are great advocates of ensuring children enjoy active lives - most notably via the book "50 things to try before you are 11 and 3/4 - An outdoors adventure handbook", one of which is to go on a long bike ride.

The former tramway was used to transport goods from the quarries at Ticknall through to the canal basin at Willesley on the Ashby Canal, not far from the current route of NCN63 near Donisthorpe.  The tramway closed in 1915 but some sections have been restored for walking and cycling purposes within the Calke Estate.

Calke Abbey features in some of our longer rides in our mapped rides page.  The rides feature the entrance drive through the estate as opposed to the tramway tracks.  The local terrain and road network makes it more suitable for adult cycling, hence why this cycling hub will be very valuable for families wanting to cycle.  That said, Calke is quite close to Melbourne and access points to the Cloud Trail (NCN 6)

We wish The National Trust and Calke Abbey well with the new hub and look forward to seeing it develop. We will post updates on this exciting new project - learn more about the proposed outdoor hub.

The plans can be seen in more detail on the National Trust Website - see the plans for the new hub.

Updates on Derbyshire Cycling Plan and local perspective.

Earlier in the year the blog featured an article on the launch of the Derbyshire Cycling Plan.  Thid ambitious plan has the aim of making Derbyshire the most connected County in terms of sustainable transport.

Further blog articles have highlighted some of the work done locally via the cycling legacy here in South Derbyshire.

Whilst we are now away from the summer months the work continues here and in the rest of Derbyshire.  Recently an update was published and this can be found on the Derbyshire Sport website.

Click here to read about updates to the Derbyshire Cycling Plan

An important part of the updates is the publication of the South Derbyshire Cycle Action plan.  This exiting and detailed document highlights the current scenario, the aims and an idea of how the plan will be achieved.  One of the key aspects is involvement of those who have a passion to make the plan work and advocate the benefits of walking and cycling around South Derbyshire.

Click here to read about the South Derbyshire Cycle Action Plan (and link to download)


If you have read this article and the Action plan and feel that you can contribute, you cn contact South Derbyshire District Council on the followng email: communityandplanning@south-derbys.gov.uk

Ferry bridge over the River Trent now re-open

As recent posts have stated the last year of commuting into Burton from South Derbyshire has been more difficult due to the closure of the Ferry bridge over the River Trent.  The pedestrian Victorian bridge and viaduct over the Trent washlands form a key part of the route into Burton avoiding the busy A444 St Peters Bridge.

The bridge and viaduct were originally built solely for pedestrians and cycling incurred a fine, which I am reliably informed was regularly enforced!  Common sense prevailed in the early 1990's when the bridge was opened to cyclists.  To read more about the bridge and it's history, click here to access the Wikipedia page.

The early morning hue over the Trent once more visible from the Ferry bridge

In recent years the bridge had been showing it's age and some of the original decorative features had been long since removed.  The deck in particular was falling apart.

Significant funding was required to bring about the repairs required to make the bridge structurally sound and further funding was raised by a group called Friends of the Ferry bridge to address the decorative issues.
An article on the Staffordshire County Council website explains in more detail the work done on all aspects of the bridge and show before, during and after pictures.

The improvement to the finish is clear

The deck and new railings are a vast improvement

Click here to read more about how the bridge has been repaired (from Staffordshire County Council website)


It may have been a long time coming but the result was certainly worth waiting for!

Ferry Bridge nearly ready.....

The daily commute in and out of Burton continues to be one of frustration for all users, though particularly cyclists and pedestrians who normally use the Ferry bridge over the River Trent.  The Ferry bridge carries NCR63 into Burton and is a vital part of infrastructure within the area.

Recent roadworks further up the road in South Derbyshire have emphasised the difference in approach to road network maintenance and sustainable transport network maintenance as will be discussed below.

For over a year now the bridge has been closed due to essential repairs.  One could argue if the bridge had been maintained properly over recent years, work of such magnitude may not be required.  Thankfully the bridge is now starting to appear from under the scaffolding but it has taken a long time.

The bridge, restored to it's former glory including coats of arms, is gradually reappearing from under the scaffolding.

In that year, a very unofficial looking diversion has been signed via the very busy St Peters Bridge.  The fairly wide path on the bridge has not been signed as shared use during this time so it is unclear whether cycling on the path is strictly legal.  Recent works on the footpath diversion have clearly not helped either.

The diversion route certainly raises questions.

The photos show the approach to the bridge via a bus stop and also show how busy the traffic can be over the bridge (and this is not at its peak).  This would be bad enough for a temporary diversion for only a week but to leave it like this for so long has risked accidents.  At around half a mile, I feel that dismounting is not an option.  Some pedestrians have made it clear that they don't think cyclists should be on the path, whilst most seem to accept that there is little alternative.  It is this lack of clarity that leads to uncertainty and potential for accidents.  Also, the behaviour of some cyclists has been concerning, often not even slowing down when approaching pedestrians.

Works on the path have not helped, though these were thankfully quickly completed.

Cycling on the pavement seems to be coming habitual in Burton and is one of my pet hates,  but this whole diversion debacle is one of the reasons why people don't feel safe on some of the roads.

The work on the Ferry bridge looks like it is being done to a high standard and is a credit to those involved.  Even from a distance it looks like the previously dilapidated structure has been given a new lease of life.  The Friends of the Ferry bridge have done a lot of work in persuading the authorities to reinstate the bridge to it's original condition and their work has been referred to in previous articles on this blog and also, as shown below, in the Burton Mail.

Click here to read more about the detailed work on the bridge.

Read here about the re-opening of the Ferry Bridge

Whilst the work on the bridge has clearly been challenging, it has taken a long time.  I'm not sure whether this has been due to the technical challenges faced or whether, according to some users, work has not been ongoing all of the time.

It is certainly worth noting that resurfacing works on 3 roundabouts on the A444 and A514 around Castle Gresley has been done very quickly.  Notably this has been achieved by significantly more people working through the night to achieve the task, like most other road projects.

I'm now hoping that the "Cyclists Dismount" signs have been removed from the Ferry Bridge when it reopens.  If not I'm sure it will feature within these pages...

More on South Derbyshire Cycling Legacy

In a recent blog item (Click here to read the post) the South Derbyshire Cycling Legacy was mentioned.  In a relatively short time since there have been 2 key achievements within the legacy project.

A cycling hub has been established at Green Bank Leisure Centre in Swadlincote and a new leaflet has been created and printed.

The aim of the cycling hub is not only to provide users with a safe place to store their bikes but also provide a place to shower and freshen up.  As someone who commutes to work by bike I think that this is a valuable asset and it is great to see South Derbyshire District Council doing something  very positive.  We hope that the cycling hub is a huge success.

Click here to read more about the new cycling hub and new leaflet.

Those who have read the blog may be familiar with the local routes section (Click here to navigate to them) and the leaflets that we produce for our information stalls.

Following the first stakeholder group meeting relating to cycling it was mentioned that further promotion of our local routes would be beneficial.  With several potential summer stalls coming up  it was a good time to launch a new leaflet and this time aimed specifically at the off-road cycle network to Swadlincote.

With enormous input from Swadlincote TIC and SDDC, the leaflet was incorporated into a new striking design and printed as well as being included on the SDDC website - click here to access it. Last weekend the leaflet was launched at the Aviva Women's tour event and was also distributed at the Festival of Leisure and was well received.

The leaflet is available at Swadlincote TIC and Swadlincote Library.  We hope it inspires families to take to the trails.

Our stall was in the Marquee near the excellent Sport & Health section which featured cycling again

Due to a number of issues our stall at the Festival of Leisure was a little smaller this year and we shared a space with Swadlincote TIC and some of our information was shared by the Sport and Health team at SDDC.  Despite not having our own stall we had a lot of contact with members of the public and our stocks of maps went down considerably.  I would consider the Festival a success from a promotion of cycling point of view.

If you've not been to the Festival of Leisure, this footage of this years festival by SwadlincoteTV sums it up really well.

I would like to thank Gail from SDDC and Debs and Hannah from Get Active in the Forest & SDDC for their help and support.

Review of Womens tour through Swadlincote

Last Saturday, 18th June, saw the Aviva Womens cycling tour come through Swadlincote on stage 4 between Nottingham and Stoke.

Flags were in plentiful supply

The leaders approach.

The race featured Stage 3 winner and eventual tour winner Lizzie Armistead in a prominent position.  The race approached Swadlincote via Hartshorne and Woodville where a sprint took place and featured on the ITV4 highlights show.  Unfortunately neither Swadlincote or Newhall featured in the highlights and neither did Burton.  There are several good videos on social media of the event.

Gone in a flash!

The peloton 

Our vantage point was on the far corner of Eureka Park on the Midway Road side turning into Newhall Road at the mini roundabout.  As the race approached there was the normal convoy of police outriders and marshalls followed eventually by the peloton then the support vehicles and finally a couple of riders who had fallen back.  At the point the ride arrived in Swadlincote the main group were pretty much all together rather than there being a breakaway group.

 We were invited to display at the come and try it event in Eureka Park itself along with several other groups including Cycle Derby, Active Nation, Desford Lane Pedallers, Extreme Cycling Roadshow and the South Derbyshire District Council Sport and Health team themselves.

The event gave local youngsters and families the chance to try out a number different cycling activities and also marked the launch of a new leaflet about the cycling trails around Swadlincote.  The leaflet has been produced by a combination of ourselves, Swadlincote Tourist Information Centre and South Derbyshire Sport.  With a few tweaks from the original version and an excellent design the leaflet looks great and I hope it inspires families to hit the trails.

The event was covered by Swadlincote TV who have produced a very smart and concise media presentation (that's video to anyone born in the 80's or before) which is linked below.  The presentation features, amongst several interviews, an excellent summary of the work being done to encourage cycling in the local area, including the opening of the cycling hub at Green Bank Leisure Centre.

Click here to see Swadlincote TV video presentation

Our stall focused mainly on the ever popular selection of maps, gratefully received from the 3 local authorities.  We also had our spin art bike for the first time which our colleagues up in Ashbourne had used the day before at their tour event.  After a few initial issues some of our visitors were producing truly abstract pieces of art!  At this event I was joined by fellow volunteers Robert and Siu and also Cathy from Sustrans regional office in Nottingham.  All in all we had a great day, though we thought the event deserved more footfall (the weather took a while to brighten so may have deterred a few)

Aviva Women's Tour Stall 2016

Less than a week to go to the Aviva Women's tour.

We are now less than a week away from the arrival of the Aviva Womens Tour.  The Sustrans stall be in Eureka Park for the event between 11am and 1.30pm and we have a few new things to show so hope to see a lot of people there.

A special version of the What's on guide has been produced as is shown below and this is available in the Tourist Information Centre and Libraries as well as at the SDDC offices on Civic Way.  To download the leaflet and read more a bout the event, click here.

Church Gresley vs Amsterdam

Previous articles in the blog have shown problems with cycling infrastructure, specifically in regard to lack of connectivity (Click here for a previous post!). This article looks again at the issue in a slightly different way.

The example used here is of a section of the cycleway that traverses the Castleton Park estate in Church Gresley. I use this on my commute on a daily basis.  As can be seen in the photographs it is segregated from the road and divided into a cycling lane and a walking lane. The current way of thinking tends to favour full shared use paths rather than a split lane but I don't have an issue with this.

Enjoyed the ride? Time to fend for yourself now!

So you think - fantastic - nearly a mile of dedicated cycleway.  When you have a look at the start and finish you are brought back down to earth however with the path finishing in unsuitable places with no onward links.  This is typical of the approach to cycling infrastructure in the UK - when the development ends, so does the cycle-way.

Crossing Glamorgan Way - 1 of 6 Crossings

A closer look at the design around junctions gives further food for thought, particularly on Glamorgan Way where you need to be looking for traffic from 5 different places.  A combination of this, relatively low numbers of people cycling combined with a complete disregard of speed limits or sensible parking by some drivers makes it a bit of a melting pot, and this is supposed to be one of the better areas to be on a bike.  At this point I'm going to change tack but bear with me!

Traffic approaches from 3 directions here

The visibility up Glamorgan Way is not fantastic

Some of my fellow Sustrans rangers are soon to embark on a cycling tour of Holland.  I'm envious but looking forward to hearing about their experience.  We hear about how much better Holland is for cycling compared to the UK but this is not to say it is perfect.  The example linked below from the Hackney cyclist explains some issues but is still very positive.

Click here to read about a Dutch Cycling Experience from the Hackney Cyclist Blog

Why do the Dutch have such good cycle infrastructure? Funding certainly is a reason. Very roughly the Dutch spend per cycling head in in excess of £20 compared to under £2 for the UK currently outside of London.  Holland being flat is potentially another reason, however the key to the infrastructure was due to brave decisions to give cyclists priority - a very severe cultural change.

The Dutch do not generally wear cycling helmets, cycling is not necessarily male-dominated in Holland. We know that obesity in Holland is far less than in this country.

Note the decrease in obesity in the Netherlands and Latvia versus GB (also increase in activity)

The above graph is taken from a study named "Walking, Cycling, and Obesity Rates
in Europe, North America, and Australia" by David R. Bassett, Jr., John Pucher, Ralph Buehler,
Dixie L. Thompson, and Scott E. Crouter which is linked here. We also know that the towns subject to a radical cycling first policy have enjoyed economic growth whilst those against said that it would lead to a loss to the local economy.

So what encourages so many people in Holland to cycle?  It comes down to the detail of the design that allows the cyclists to have priority, allowing them to stay safe. Interestingly this is not always by complete segregation - it is a waste of money to put in complicated segregated infrastructure where there is little traffic or where traffic is moving slowly.  This clearly depends on the behaviour of motorists and all part of the change of culture.

The main design features that make a difference are around junctions, roundabouts and bus stops.

The photo on the left shows the Dutch approach - with cycles given priority.  The picture on the right is Castlton Park again with a 10 year old girl having to check in 3 directions before taking the crossing.

At this point I must state that I am not singling out Castleton Park as being a bad place to cycle - it is actually one of the best around the local area and I am grateful for it's provision.

I am using it as an example of how design of cycling infrastructure is not best practice in this country at the design phase or carried our in practice.  When querying this I have been assured that everything is done within guidelines and to best industry practice.  I think I have shown enough evidence to suggest that this is not the case.

Moves are afoot to bring Dutch design to the UK.  Several London Boroughs are investing in projects referred to as mini-Amsterdams.  This is a promising development but we need to ensure that it applies to other areas of the country. The information shown within the London Cycling campaign is useful and explains about how different types of infrastructure require a different solution depending on how busy the road is.  Click here to link to the London Cycling campaign for more information.

What can we do to improve the situation?  Are we ready for a radical change; a leap of faith where we dare to cycle uninterrupted through a housing estate knowing that the cars will give way?  Should we look to make areas like Castleton Park a pilot project area for such a change supported by a reduction in the speed limit?

What do we do about future developments?  We need to keep pressure on the local authorities and developers to ensure that the best designs are included on the plans for a development and question them if not.  Planning applications are judged on their sustainability and provision of alternative forms of transport are a key part of this and they must be properly scrutinised to ensure they perform the sustainable role that partially allowed the development to take place.

National Bike Week Starts today

Today sees the start of National Cycle week. From 11-17th June there are several initiatives planned.

The website states "Bike Week is an annual opportunity to promote cycling, and show how cycling can easily be part of everyday life by encouraging ‘everyday cycling for everyone’. Demonstrating the social, health and environmental benefits of cycling, the week aims to get people to give cycling a go all over the UK, whether this be for fun, as a means of getting around to work or school, the local shops or just to visit friends. The 2016 event will take place 11-19th June but events still take place through September and beyond!"

More information can be found via the website; please click here to visit the Bike week website.  There is also a pledge to sign and possible prizes for those who take the pledge.

One of the main aims of the week is to encourage people to cycle to work more. If you are interested in cycling to work but feel there are too many obstacles then there are some useful pointers on the Sustrans website following a campaign ran previously.  Click here for information on cycling to work.

Hopefully initiatives like this can encourage more people to commute by bike and in turn persuade employers to encourage cycling and provide suitable facilities.

Great news for local cycling with launch of South Derbyshire cycling legacy

We were recently invited to an event at South Derbyshire District Council to be part of a discussion towards the creation of a cycling legacy in South Derbyshire as part of the ambitious Derbyshire cycling plan.

In an interactive session attended by several different organisations there were many good points raised including a lot of positive aspects of work currently ongoing as well as recognition of the challenges faced in increasing participation in cycling.

A stakeholder group is being formed as explained in the link below from the South Derbyshire District Council Website.  If you passionate about cycling and feel that you want to be involved please click on this link for further details.

This is a huge step forward for cycling within the local area but also has the potential aside from the environmental aspects, to be beneficial for the health of future generations.

One of the events that will also kick start the legacy is the Aviva Womens tour which will pass through the area.  There is an event planned for Saturday 18th June at Eureka Park in Swadlincote which we will be attending (more details soon) to celebrate the tour coming through.

Details of the time of the tour are available on the Aviva Womens Tour 2016 website.  The event will run to cover the build up and aftermath of the tour.

Overview of the route for Stage 4.

Local cycling update, April 2016

With the lighter nights, people are starting to cycle more again, though the weather has not fully improved and we still await for summer!

There have been several activities occurring on the cycle network and beyond. As previously mentioned on the blog, we have made some improvements to signage on route 63, we have been attending meetings about events and general infrastructure and most importantly there has been an improvement made to a section of our main route.

Cycling into Burton is still not ideal due to the closure of the ferry bridge but work is progressing and once re-opened, this will improve.

Women's tour and South Derbyshire cycling legacy

The Aviva women's cycling tour is due to pass through Swadlincote on Saturday 18th June. An event is planned to celebrate the tour and more details will  be posted in the near future.   In the meantime, See below article from South Derbyshire District Council which gives more details and also refers to an exciting cycling legacy that we hope to support.

Click here to read the story highlighted above.

Improvement works to NCN 63 in Moira

Not much space either side of the puddles

Two years ago we surveyed the whole of our route and identified many areas where the condition of the path had deteriorated due to the build up of excessive mud. A community payback team worked back from Donisthorpe woodland park towards Moira and improved a significant section of the path.

Very muddy!

Unfortunately, the payback team was then unavailable for sometime before coming back last year. By this time we decided that there were sections of path beyond Donisthorpe church that needed more urgent attention.  As a result there was a small section between Conkers Youth Hostel at Bath Lane and the embankment through Moira that was incomplete and had also deteriorated.

Close up of work done

Enjoying the improved section!

 This year another team has now improved this section and also cleaned up the tarmac section to avoid the same happening to that section in the future.  The pictures were actually taken after a few days of rain.

New Link from Hicks Lodge to Moira

The first part of an off road link from Moira Furnace to Hicks Lodge Cycle centre is now complete.  The path links the existing lakeside loop path and curves through the woods to Newfields Road

The path snaking away from Hicks Lodge

The next section will utilise a new development which is currently under construction, then cross Measham Road before a final section will take the route to the canal bridge at the Furnace.

The new section of path is a good 3m wide section and features a number of a sweeping curves through a pleasant wooded section.

 Progress beyond the section at the moment is on road into the middle of Moira with the best access points back to NCN being via Sarah's Wood to Conkers or at the lock next to the old Fire Station (now a Co-op store).  There is a footpath along this road section.  Once complete it will be another major part of off road cycling infrastructure which will link the attractions of Hicks Lodge and Conkers together.

Moira Furnace on TV

Last night on BBC the program Canals: The making of a nation featured the Ashby Canal by Moira Furnace where NCN63 passes.  It was a very interesting program about the history of people on the canals, specifically families and was good to see the local area featured.  The program is 5/6 in the series and is available (as the article is written) on Iplayer.

Our work around the National Forest

In a welcome break away from the daily cycling commute we have been reviewing signing between Church Gresley and Measham.

This sign in Donisthorpe had faded

Some of our signs were starting to look a little weathered and we have identified gaps in some places.  We have installed some new signs and where possible we have used destination stickers rather than just using arrows.


We feel that using destination stickers is more useful as we can put place names or points of interest on them.  This is of use to the increasing numbers of tourists in the area.  They can also feature distances which people find useful.  They also make junctions easier to sign.

After much perseverance (mainly by Shawn) all four signs were updated. 

One of the areas focused on was the junction between Swainspark Wood and Tunnel Woods where a relatively new cycle-path joins with an existing one.

We have also reviewed the junction on the Conkers circuit where the link to Swadlincote joins the route and will be improving that soon.

New signing in the Swainspark Wood area.

We also have a team working on the Ashby Woulds Heritage Trail near Moira to continue the work done 2 years ago to improve the condition of the path.  We will feature this going forward.

Women's Tour to visit Swadlincote

As you may have read recently there has been some excellent news regarding the Aviva Womens Cycling tour visiting the area this year.

On Saturday 18th June the ride will run a stage from Nottingham through to Stoke on Trent and this route will visit Swadlincote before heading off to Burton and beyond.

Click here to see the Women's tour website and outline of route.  More details about the route will be publicised here in due course.

There will be some activity planned to celebrate this occasion and the event will inspire people to cycle more in the local area.  We will share any information about events planned in the local area.

Click here to see the South Derbyshire District Council announcement

The event has already attracted some local media attention as seen on the links below including a bit of background about how the route was attracted to Swadlincote.

Click here to read how the Women's tour was attracted to Swadlincote

Click here to read news of the tour from a local media perspective.

Looks like it will be a day to remember!

More on Burton commute....

My recent frustration with the cycling commute as previously seen in this blog was recently reported within the local media. I was talking to the journalist who wrote the article at a meeting and he was surprised to hear me speaking of cycling in a non-positive way.

In the interest of balance he contacted Staffordshire County Council for an opinion and as can be seen in the article the response is disappointing. How the Burton Mail reported my frustration.  It is a good article and I welcome the help of the Burton Mail in raising awareness of issues faced.

The response is limited to a statement about keeping pedestrians, cyclists and motorists separate at roadworks.  From my experience of temporoary traffic lights I tend not to cycle with the traffic as you are often lucky if you can get through in a car before the lights change, let alone a cycle.

The issues I have raised are about the lack of planning of an alternative route following the enforced closure of a critical part of the National Cycle Network, i.e. a route that a 14 year old child should be able to cycle confidently on.

Cycling over St Peters Bridge in the morning rush hour feels about as far away from safe as you can get but SCC don't seem to have any concerns over this.  I am aware that funding at that level is scarce and have genuine sympathy for those who are trying to do a decent job in difficult circumstances but these concerns must be raised.

Talking of St Peters bridge, there has been talk recently of putting a 3rd lane in.  Personally I find this approach staggering for a number of reasons:

Click here to read about the outline plans for a 3rd lane across St Peters Bridge.

The provision of a 3rd lane would in effect give the bridge a slight increase in capacity, but how will this traffic flow increase at either end?  Surely the bodies mentioned need to be looking at some form of simulation software based on improving the flow at either end of the bridge.  Perhaps changing the pedestrian crossings to subways may work out better.

A huge concern is the talk of not having any pedestrian access on the newly expanded bridge - let's hope the Ferrybridge is actually reopened!

The cost of the work itself would be very expensive and the true benefits will not be known until the Drakelow crossing comes to fruition.  If using funding from developments I would imagine the scale of the development itself would lead to increased traffic anyway.  Hopefully this would take away a major chunk of the traffic for those who need to drive through Burton to access the A38 rather than drive into Burton.

With through traffic partially taken care of most people then have business to attend to in Burton itself.  Assuming, unlike the person in Stapenhill featured in the article, they do not need to drive into town, then the authorities could look to put ways of alternative transport forward and actually encourage people to do something different.

I'm not necessarily talking about walking or cycling here (although it would be great if more people did so).  I'm referring to using the bus.  Train fare rises seem to attract headlines yet bus fares / subsidies don't and from my experience of recent years bus fares have gone up but the level of service (certainly from Church Gresley, due to Arriva cutting routes) has not improved!  Sadly the Ivanhoe line does not look likely at any point soon.

It is also interesting how much better the flow of traffic improves around school holidays, so the impact of trends on traffic, and the potential understanding around these should be further looked into.

Another alternative to the issues which is certainly cheaper for the authorities was reported in the link below.  Whilst this seems to take a more pragmatic approach to the problem I would imagine motorist may have an issue with this and it is still looking at it from a vehicular point of view.

Click here to read the Burton Mail report on a possible one way system solution.

What I would say to those proposing these schemes is to look at the issue outside the box rather than think of cars alone.  The approach to the Ferrybridge works and these schemes indicate worryingly that alternative methods of transport are still a long way down the list in the Burton area.  I'd encourage those proposing the extra lane to cycle into Burton in that area, particularly while the Ferrybridge is out of use.  The phrase Genchi Genbutsu refers to the Toyota system of going to see the situation to understand the problem and I think this would be of benefit to those mentioned above.

One approach would be to turn the tables completely and mimic the bridge being closed due to the work involved.  During this time, keep it open only to pedestrians, cycles buses and emergency vehicles and monitor how people adapt........

Launch of the Derbyshire Sport Cycling Plan

On Tuesday 19th January the Derbyshire Sport Cycling Plan was launched at Derby Arena.  The event followed a consultation period as previously shared in this blog.

The strategy proposes to make Derbyshire the most connected county for cycling in the country and is ambitious, whilst acknowledging current constraints.

The event was held at Derby Arena which was an ideal place to launch the plan from.  It was my first visit to the arena and I was impressed.

The Arena is situated in Pride Park next to the IPro stadium,
home of Derby County, just off NCN route 6.

 Only a 15  minute walk from the Railway station, and a very quick detour from NCN 6 the arena features a velodrome as well as other sporting facilities within, including a gym and multi-use sports courts in the middle.

The event itself started with some demonstrations of stunt cycling and also some of the Derby Track League cyclists on the velodrome track itself before the formal part of the evening was held in the main seating area.

A mix of cycling styles - the trickery of stunt biking in the foreground with
the speed of track cycling in the background.

 The formal part of the launch featured several speakers including representatives from  somne of the key organisations who will be crucial to the success of the plan, namely Derbyshire Sport, D2N2 (the local enterprise Partnership for Derby and Nottingham), Derbyshire County Council and Derby City Council.  Each speaker spoke very positively about the aims of the plan, the benefits the plan will bring economically, socially, environmentally as well as the huge health benefits (stated as £18 million per year in Derby city alone).

The speeches, like the plan itself, acknowledged the size of the task ahead and also the current restrictions due to severe government cuts.  However, as is the case with all such projects, it is key to have a good strategy to maximise the chance of winning the funding bids.

The main theme of the speeches on the night was about getting " bums on bike seats!" and one of the main themes of the plan is a multi-level approach to promoting the plan, from the top of the organistations mentioned to champions at a local level.  Click here to see the Derbyshire Cycling Plan webpage

As well as the speeches by members of the key organisations there was a further speech by young paracyclist Katie Toft about how cycling had benefitted her which was very inspiring.  Click here to read a review of the launch in the Derby Telegraph

Once the formal part of the evening was over there was a networking session around several stands providing relevant information including organisations such as Sustrans, Derbyshire County Council, Derbyshire Police, National Forest Company, Peak District, Derby Cycling Group amongst others.

The building looks imposing both during the day and at night.

Click here to go directly to a link for the PDF document of the plan

It was also good to meet up with several other delegates including those from South Derbyshire District Council, Amber Valley District Council, British Cycling, Breeze and, as always, it was good to meet up with fellow Sustrans Rangers.

Part of the speeches mentioned how the plan aims to increase
 numbers partaking  in cycling rather than middle aged men in
lycra - in case you didn't know what that looked like......

Once the event had finished there was cycling entertainment provided by the Derby Track league.  This was followed by a walk back to Derby Station, a train ride to Burton and a ride back home which, in parts, highlighted the need for the plan including collusion with neighbouring authorities.

I am very much looking forward to supporting this plan and hope that those reading this are too.